With the theme “Together let’s End Malaria in South Sudan”, South Sudan joined the rest of the countries in the world to celebrate the 2023 World Malaria Day with calls for robust multisectoral actions to reduce malaria morbidity by 80 percent in 2025 as outlined in the 2021-2025 South Sudan Malaria Strategic Plan.

In South Sudan, malaria remains a disease of public health significance and a major cause of illness and death, particularly among pregnant women and children under five years of age. It accounts for 66 percent of outpatient consultations, 50 percent of admissions and about 30 percent of deaths. The World Malaria Report 2021 estimates that about 8750 malaria cases are reported daily, and about 20 people die of malaria daily in South Sudan putting the country among the highest malaria incidence in the region.

The country is experiencing a complex humanitarian context characterized by fragility of health systems with multiple diseases outbreaks, population displacements, flooding, food insecurity and insecurity which affect the implementation of key malaria control and prevention interventions.

In 2022, South Sudan conducted its first National Malaria Conference under the theme “Saving lives from malaria in a protracted humanitarian emergency setting” and launched the ‘Zero Malaria in South Sudan Starts with Me’ campaign.
The conference officiated by H.E. Hussein Abdelbagi Akol, Vice President for Services Cluster, galvanized multisectoral collaborative approaches towards interventions to accelerate the reduction of malaria illness and death and contribute to achievement of the Universal Health Coverage goal.

This year World Malaria Day was officially celebrated in Bentiu, Unity State and people turned up to participate in the celebrations in numbers. “Ending malaria starts with you as an individual”, said Honorable, Saman Doctor Cholyier, Legal Advisor to the Governor of Unity State. “It is an individual responsibility to protect yourselves and your loved ones from malaria by sleeping under mosquito nets and seeking treatment when sick”.

“Today is the time to say, “Zero Malaria in South Sudan Starts with Me’, if you do the small things to keep yourself safe from malaria as an individual, the big picture of controlling and eliminating malaria can be achieved”, said Dr Santo Malek, Director General of International Health and Coordination at the National Ministry of Health, representing the Honourable Yolanda Awel Deng Juach, Minister of health.

“Malaria control efforts faced significant challenges in recent years, in addition to the already significant COVID-19 related disruptions and other health system challenges, including protracted humanitarian crises, limited donor funding and the potential effect of climate change on the spread of the disease”, said Dr Fabian Ndenzako, the WHO South Sudan Representative a.i. , represented by the WHO Bentiu office.

Dr Ndenzako called for combined multisectoral efforts and strong coordination among partners to help in the reduction of malaria and ensure a healthy future for the people of South Sudan and reiterated WHO’s commitment to support the Ministry of Health in its effort to end malaria in South Sudan.  

World Malaria Day, marked each year on 25 April, brings together the global malaria community to highlight global efforts to end malaria, the need for sustained political commitment and continued investment for malaria control and elimination.

Globally, this years’ World Malaria Day is marked under the theme “Time to deliver zero malaria: invest, innovate, implement”.

Technical contacts:

Dr James Squire, Email:squirej [at] who.int;
Mr Khoti Gausi, Email: gausik [at] who.int